Keeping it Simple

Joss Davidge, Business Director of brand experience agency BEcause, continues his weekly search for innovative marketing ideas. This week he looks at how Kit Kat and Hot Wheels got people talking without shouting.

Creating an experience that has the wow factor is great, but some brands choose to push boundaries for the sake of it and disengage from key brand messages in the process. A truly effective brand experience is one that engages consumers and goes beyond a short burst of excitement.  Brand experiences that thoughtfully marry key messages with what consumers want can build long term relationships. So this week I wanted to find a couple of recent campaigns that didn't rely on a large marketing budget or a sprawling team of creatives, but that were still able to communicate with consumers in a way that is not only memorable but which also sparked hundreds of conversations.

Kit Kat No WiFi

Kit Kat leant on its famous "Take a Break" tagline for this simple but eye-catching campaign in Holland. The brand blocked Wi-Fi signals in a five metre radius around a bench and gave people a chance to escape the internet and encouraged them to "enjoy a good old fashioned newspaper or hardback book". The brand then went on to say "some even had a conversation"!

Hot Wheel your Car

Last year Hot Wheels devised a great loop the loop stunt that went viral, this year the iconic miniature toy car brand scaled down the activity a bit. An oversized Hot Wheels box was placed in a car park. Drivers could park their car neatly inside it and were then photographed next to their "Hot Wheeled" motor. Because of the personal connection and novelty, the photos were shared widely online – successfully getting hundreds of people talking for little more than the cost of a cardboard box.

Read more from Joss Davidge on our blog.